Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-02-17

81. LOUIS NAALlCs
s4ording under the open sky on a clear
.;5winter night the finest consultations
tba whole heavens are unrolled before
oya of the observer. Each of the
.son.snds of stars is a blazing sun, with
T.. nrobable family of attendant planets.
p.;rbtest of them is Sirius. The recent
| -.-eorcbes of astronomers have shown
No. this star is one million times as far
ION, me earth as the sun, which itself is
narrated from Us by mighty abyss of
2.7OO000 miles.
When we reflect this distance enormous
80 II appears, is but a span in compari-
.on with the almost infinite distances
,bieb separate us from other stars, and
bat beyond these are Others stretching
.rav nj intervals which to US appear like
5,F.rent orders of infnities, we gain q
lain. idea of the imm ensity OF the UNI
vs-se. Looking out from our little globe
;,to these infinite depths one often Won
lsrs whether, in all the vast numbers of
vorlds with which space teens there is
one from which the eye of an intelligent
being gazes in wondering admiration up
nm these same glorious consultations
which night after night spread their
beauties before the eyes of the earth's
chill lren. For all we know, or may ever
know no other eyes than ours have ever
,apybt the tremulous waves of light
rbich ever flow from out these distant
suns. 1t may be that these shining
.nheres pursue their orbits year after
year, age after age, and never voice of
man or living creature Is heard in ell
heir depths. The idea Expresses us
with the isolation of man.
In the reaction from such thoughts,
men have gone to the other extreme, and,
Giving tree rein to their imaginations
have peopled not only the planets of our
own system but the universe of stars with
creatures of their own invention. Many
have even clothed these fictitious inhabit-
ants of other spheres with human forms
and characteristics. Even so great an
astronomer as Sir William Herschel at
one time held that the sun might have
human inhabitants, and kindly invented
a special layer of clouds to protect them
from the glowing exterior. The period
Il comets have been held by many to be
reserved for the future torment of the
wicked
bodies to this purpose, will be at once adj
mitted when it is remembered that the
comet in the course of its eccentric or
bit sweeps in very necr the sun, at which
time its unfortunate inhabitants would
be subjected to the most awful scorching.
Scarcely the sufferers accustom them
selves To this torrid climate when the
comet bears them out beyond the orbit of
Neptune where they are subjected to an
intensity of cold which we have no con-
ceution. Thus alternately roasting and
freezing the slow ages OF eternity wear
away. From the earliest study of astron-
omy the possibility of life in other worlds
has been a matter of constant spscula-
Ation. The literature of the subject Is
enormous, but throughout the magma
ton of the writer's has played SO promi-
nent part, and facts have been so mex
tricably interviewer with speculation,
that it is difficult for the non-scientifc
reader TO know where one ceases and the
other begins.
In their physical characteristics the
major planets of our suns system may
be roughly divided into two classes.
The four great outer planets-Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Nsptuns-are still in
the condition of highly heated bodies.
They have an average density of only
LIS compared to water, Saturn being the
only one which departs widely from the
mean, its density being only 0,75 of that
Of water.
The telescope shows the surface of
Jupiter to be in a state of continual
change, Heated vapors rise from the in
'eriOr, cool, and fall back in the boiling
mass below. The most frightful storms
occur in this heated envelope, com pared
70 which our terrestrial tornadoss are
but triAiug. Jupiter is in fact sort of
secondary sun.
Saturn is apparently somewhat further
advanced in the cooling process and its
surface is more quiet than that of Jupiter
but all the evidence points 10 the con-
conclusion that no solid substance exists
upon IT, A large part of its equatorial
region is shrouded for years in success
Ion IN the shadow of its great ring.
Uranus and Neptune present no fea-
lures which can be made ont by the tele-
cope, The spectroscope shows the
presence of a5sorbation bands indioat-
ug dense atmosuheres. Most probably
't "Lu III Il ppEoAludNtly lub COuulllOu
4 '' Saturn. To them the sun presents the
appearance of tiny disk, giving scarce
4 y Improbable light and heat.
Between the group just mentioned and
mat nearer the sun is a belt of small
planets, 23i of which have been discover
sd 70 date. These little bodies are dis
,nct globes from ten to 800 miles in dia-
meter. The entire absence of an atmos-
faefe at once precludes the idea that
can sustain life.
Inc inner group of PLANETS, of which
.oe earth is one, have many striking
physical characteristics in common, and
among these neighbors of the earth, if
.lyVhere, We should expect to fad evil
-sAcs OK ability to sustain life. All four
'lnaA bodies compared to the giant
.'.s'P planets, all are solid crusts, and, so
.'' as determined, their times Of rotation
rrt sle'' axes are approximately the same.
1s average deneity of the group is 5.33
pared 20 wster), in striking contrast
,5 small density of the outer group.
'.7'e'rg has the greatest, 6.8, while Mars
r6e. '''-' u '1e eAl'n oeins
Ns.en'y the planet nearest the sun,
some indications of an atmosphere.
.a.'auoas of heat, on account of its
orbit, are extreme When at